Sure, there are Manatee residents whose early childhood vocabulary included “mama,” “papa,” “storm surge” and “eyewall.” But there are new inhabitants, seasonal residents, vacationers — and maybe some old-timers in the county — who don’t know the difference between a “hurricane warning” and a “hurricane watch,” the “center” and the “eye,” a “direct hit” and a “strike.”
So, the Bradenton Herald offers this glossary of storm-related terms. Seasonal vocabulary
CENTER: Generally speaking, the vertical axis of a tropical cyclone, usually defined by the location of minimum wind or minimum pressure.
CENTRAL NORTH PACIFIC BASIN: The region north of the Equator between 140W and the International Dateline. The Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Honolulu tracks tropical cyclones in this region.
CONE OF UNCERTAINTY: This is sometimes called the 'cone of error'. This shows the HISTORICAL error at certain time periods in a tropical cyclone forecast. Average error in track forecasting over the last several years is at about 75 miles for 24 hours meaning the “cone” will be 150 miles across and 300 miles at 120 hours or 600 miles across. It is important to realize that sometimes the actual forecast scenario may be more or less accurate than the historical error cone.
CYCLONE: An atmospheric closed circulation rotating counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.
DIRECT HIT: A close approach of a tropical cyclone to a particular location.
EASTERN NORTH PACIFIC BASIN: The portion of the North Pacific Ocean east of 140W. The National Hurricane Center in Miami tracks tropical cyclones in this region.
EL NINO: This is an anomolous warming of the sub tropical Pacific Ocean surface waters. During an El Nino, vertical wind shear is increased at high altitudes leading to a lower opportunity for tropical systems to develop. This was the main element during the middle and end of the 2006 Atlantic Hurricane Season.
EYE: The roughly circular area of comparatively light winds that encompasses the center of a severe tropical cyclone. The eye is either completely or partially surrounded by the eyewall cloud.
EYEWALL/WALL CLOUD: An organized band or ring of cumulonimbus clouds that surrounds the eye. Eyewall and wall cloud are used synonymously.
EXTRATROPICAL: Used in advisories and tropical summaries to indicate a cyclone has lost its “tropical” characteristics. It is important to note that cyclones can become extratropical and still retain winds of hurricane or tropical storm force.
GALE WARNING: A warning of 1-minute sustained surface winds in the range 39 mph to 54 mph, either predicted or occurring and not directly associated with tropical cyclones.
HIGH WIND WARNING: A high wind warning is defined as 1-minute average surface winds of 40 mph or greater lasting for 1 hour or longer, or winds gusting to 58 mph or greater regardless of duration that are either expected or observed over land.
HURRICANE: An intense tropical weather system of strong thunderstorms with a well-defined surface circulation and maximum sustained winds of 74 mph (64 knots) or higher. The term hurricane is used for Northern Hemisphere tropical cyclones east of the International Dateline to the Greenwich Meridian. The term typhoon is used for Pacific tropical cyclones north of the Equator west of the International Dateline.
HURRICANE SEASON: The portion of the year having a relatively high incidence of hurricanes. The hurricane season in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. The hurricane season in the Eastern Pacific basin runs from May 15 to Nov. 30. The hurricane season in the Central Pacific basin runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.
HURRICANE WARNING: A warning that sustained winds 74 mph or higher associated with a hurricane are expected in a specified coastal area in 24 hours or less. A hurricane warning can remain in effect when dangerously high water or a combination of dangerously high water and high waves continue, even though winds may be less than hurricane force.
HURRICANE WATCH: An announcement for specific coastal areas that hurricane conditions are possible within 36 hours.
INDIRECT HIT: Generally refers to locations that do not experience a direct hit from a tropical cyclone, but do experience hurricane force winds (either sustained or gusts) or tides of at least 4 feet above normal.
LANDFALL: The intersection of the surface center of a tropical cyclone with a coastline. Because the strongest winds in a tropical cyclone are not located precisely at the center, it is possible for a cyclone’s strongest winds to be experienced over land even if landfall does not occur. Similarly, it is possible for a tropical
cyclone to make landfall and have its strongest winds remain over the water.
PROBABILITY OFTROPICAL CYCLONE CONDITIONS: The probability, in percent, that the cyclone center will pass within 50 miles to the right or 75 miles to the left of the listed location within the indicated time period.
STORM SURGE: A dome of water pushed onshore by storm winds.
STORM TIDE: A combination of storm surge and normal tide (i.e., a 15-foot storm surge combined with a 2-foot normal tide over sea level creates a 17-foot storm tide).
STORM WARNING: A warning of 1-minute sustained surface winds of 55 mph or greater, either predicted or occurring, not directly associated with tropical cyclones.
STRIKE: For any particular location, a hurricane strike occurs if that location passes within the hurricane’s strike circle. This circle is meant to depict the typical extent of hurricane force winds.
TROPICAL CYCLONE: A warm-core nonfrontal synoptic-scale cyclone, originating over tropical or subtropical waters, with organized deep convection and a closed surface wind circulation about a welldefined center.
TROPICAL DEPRESSION: An organized system of clouds and thunderstorms with a defined surface circulation and maximum sustained winds of 38 mph (33 knots) or less.
TROPICAL STORM: An organized system of strong thunderstorms with a defined surface circulation and maximum sustained winds of 39–73 mph (34–63 knots).
TROPICAL STORM WARNING: A warning that sustained winds within the range of 39 to 73 mph associated with a tropical cyclone are expected in a specified coastal area within 24 hours or less.
TROPICAL STORM WATCH: An announcement for specific coastal areas that tropical storm conditions are possible within 36 hours.
TROPICALWAVE: A trough or cyclonic curvature maximum in the trade-wind easterlies. The wave may reach maximum amplitude in the lower middle troposphere.
SOURCES: National Hurricane Center’s Tropical Prediction Center, FEMA Bay News 9’s Josh Linker contributed to this report.
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